The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the Pope Was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church.

The rise of Benedict XVI The inside story of how the Pope was elected and where he will take the Catholic Church Written by John L Allen; Published by Random House, New York, 2005, ISBN: 0385513208, Hardcover, pp. 256, $27.95 CAN

John Allen's The rise of Benedict XVI begins where Bardazzi leaves off [See this separate review on page 34]. Again, the subtitle tells the story: first the election of the new Pope, then an analysis of his ideas and what they may, or could, mean for the future. It is the second part--which takes up half the book--which makes this volume worth the purchase.

Allen is a well-known Vatican-stationed journalist who writes for the American National Catholic Reporter (NCR), a weekly which represents a dissident and disagreeable Catholic readership. In the past, Allen himself has written unflattering essays on the goings-on in the Vatican in the style dear to a liberal-secular audience which rejects Magisterial teaching, especially that of personal and family morality, and views affairs through a 'progressive versus reactionary' prism.

Still, Allen, by concentrating more and more on the interior working of the Vatican state as an organization in the service of the Catholic faith, has earned himself the reputation of being a reliable guide. Some three years ago, he also published his take on Cardinal Ratzinger, apparently still in a somewhat adversarial tone of one who dislikes the work of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (I have not read this book myself.) However, that very study of the Cardinal, now stripped of its controversial deliberations, allows Allen to explain authoritatively the new pope's doctrinal, liturgical, and state-Church views, with an emphasis on their current formulation during the first five months of 2005.

The first half of the book, then, dealing with the death of Pope John Paul II, and speculating on the calling of the Conclave and the election of Benedict, may be skimmed over, now that it is all past history. The last 160 pages, however, concentrating on the new Pope's current views, makes this book a worthwhile Christmas gift.

Says Allen in 'Summary' (p. 247): "The papacy of Pope Benedict XVI ... promises to be the stuff of high drama. It will be driven by deep ideas, fueled by a sense of limited time and much work to do, and, perhaps, scarred by conflict inside the Church and misunderstanding without ..."

FR. ALPHONSE DE VALK, C.S.B.